


Overdose

by polola



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Eventual Threesome, M/M, Polyamory, hospital au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:21:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polola/pseuds/polola
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami Taiga is an EMT currently engaged in entirely unprofessional relations with a doctor he may or may not have feelings for.<br/>Things get complicated when another doctor comes into the picture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Nicotine

           Kagami was walking down the long hospital hallway when a hand suddenly grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into a storage closet. The smell of sterilizing agents was almost overwhelming, but Kagami didn’t mind, because Doctor Aomine Daiki was groping his ass with one hand and trying to unbutton his shirt with the other.

            “You busy?” Aomine asked.

            “Ask me that before you shove your hands in my pants,” Kagami snorted, and raised his hands to get his shirt unbuttoned properly. “My shift just ended,” he added, before leaning forward and smashing their lips together, hard and sloppy, like always.

            It was strange, Kagami thought, how this had become a familiar occurrence. Ever since the months and months of butting heads over _everything_ culminated in extremely unprofessional sex in the back of an ambulance, they’d been fucking on a pretty regular basis.

            He was under no illusions about their relationship. They worked together and slept together, that was it. Sure, he sometimes thought about comforting Aomine after a rough day at the hospital in ways other than quick blowjobs in the bathroom, but Aomine seemed fine with the way things were. Kagami was too. Really.

            His thoughts were interrupted by a bite on his shoulder. “Stop zoning out, I’ve got a problem here,” Aomine grumbled, rutting his hard-on against Kagami’s own problem. Kagami bit his lip to stop from smiling at Aomine’s constant need to be the center of attention. He was cute sometimes, like a cat. A well-placed thrust had him biting his lip for a different reason. his hand traveled down Aomine’s back to fondle him. Aomine pulled away before Kagami could kiss him again, smacking Kagami’s hand away from his ass.

            “No way are you gonna top right now, babe, I still have eight hours left of being on my feet,” Aomine said.

            Kagami rolled his eyes. Aomine could whine for hours over a paper cut, he didn’t want to torture the rest of the staff with Aomine’s complaints about a sore ass. “Fine, _babe_. But I at least wanna be _on_ top of you. Lay down.”

            “This floor is nasty,” Aomine said, but grinned and complied, unzipping his slacks and pulling out his cock. Kagami pulled off his own pants, slowly, enjoying the feeling Aomine’s eyes on him, only him. He stepped out of his pants and stood over Aomine, his gaze roving over the dress shirt he had on under his doctor’s coat. It fit him just right, and Aomine, the bastard, had unbuttoned it just enough to tease anyone looking with a glimpse of beautiful brown skin.

            “Unbutton your shirt,” Kagami demanded. “I like that one, I don’t want to get it dirty.” He swore he saw Aomine’s cock twitch at the order as he reached up to pop open his buttons. Kagami lowered himself to kneel over Aomine, reaching into Aomine’s doctor’s coat to grab the lube and condom packets he always kept in there. As he prepared himself, Aomine’s long fingers traced over Kagami’s thighs.

            Under normal circumstances, Kagami liked to stretch this part out and put on more of a show. But as it was, they never had much time for their little trysts. So with very little fanfare, Aomine put the condom on and Kagami sank down onto him, breath hitching at the stretch. Once fully seated, he clenched around Aomine’s cock and licked his lips.

            Aomine groaned. “God, you’re sexy, you son of a bitch.”

            Kagami laughed as he began to move his hips. “Charming. You say that to every EMT you fuck?”

            “Nah, you’re the first EMT I’ve fucked. Pretty sure I’ve said it to a nurse once or twice, although I’ve never called them a son of a bitch,” Aomine said. After a moment, he added, “We should get you one of those nurse dresses for next time.”

            “Nurses don’t even wear dresses anymore, they have scrubs.”

            “Shame,” Aomine said, gazing at him fondly. “You’d look damn fine.”

            Kagami turned red. What right did Aomine have to look at him like that? Digging his nails into Aomine’s chest, he raised his hips and slammed them back down, beginning to ride him in earnest.          

            Aomine gasped, bucking up to meet Kagami’s frantic movements. Kagami loved this position, loved seeing Aomine sprawled out beneath him, his hair disheveled, his plump lips parted.

            Maybe, he even loved Aomine.

            Luckily, before he had time to properly comprehend that thought, Aomine grabbed Kagami’s cock and began to stroke it, breathing heavily. “Fuck, _Kagami_ , I’m not gonna last. Don’t stop, _please_.” Kagami shuddered.

            Of course the only time Aomine said please was during sex, but it never failed to break Kagami apart. It only took a few more thrusts for him to come into Aomine’s hand, barely registering Aomine coming too.

            Kagami fell forward onto Aomine’s chest, clutching his shirt. He could fall asleep like that, easily, just listening to Aomine’s heartbeat.

            But they didn’t have time for that, and they weren’t in a relationship either.

            Kagami pushed himself off of Aomine’s chest, surveying his handwork. Aomine looked completely blown. There was only a little bit of semen on his shirt, which was a massive improvement from the last time. Aomine lifted up his hand, still covered in Kagami’s cum, and wiped it on Kagami’s uniform shirt.

            “What the fuck?” Kagami yelped, lifting himself up only to gasp when Aomine’s cock slid out of him. “You know how hard it is to get cum out of clothes?”

            “Yeah, you ruined my shirt last time. It’s payback.” Aomine looked far too pleased with himself.

            “I cleaned it for you!” Kagami said, then sighed, pushing his hair out of his face. There was no point in arguing with this asshole. He heaved himself to his feet, walking to where his pants were lying.

            They dressed in silence. As Kagami was attempting to make it less obvious that the right side of his shirt was covered in semen, Aomine walked past him, his hair still a mess and his shirt buttoned wrong. He really was cute, Kagami thought. Pulling Aomine back towards him, he re-buttoned his shirt and smoothed out his hair, kissing him briefly before he really knew what he was doing. He pulled back quickly, avoiding Aomine’s surprised eyes. They didn’t do gentle kisses. Kagami didn’t think he had ever kissed Aomine without one of them either biting or shoving their tongues together.

            Aomine seemed at a loss too. “W-well,” he said. “I’m off to work, honey.”

            The tension broke. “Fuck you,” Kagami said, shoving a laughing Aomine towards the door.

            Aomine gave a quick nod and left. Kagami counted to thirty before leaving too, only to bump right into Aomine’s back.

            “Aomine, what the fu-oh. Midorima. Takao.” He reached up to try and calm down his post-sex hair, slowly looking up to face the newcomers. Takao looked like he was about to start crying from holding back his laughter, while Midorima looked at all of them with disapproval. Midorima was eccentric and currently clutching a plastic green army man in his hand, but Kagami still felt his face heating up. Aomine’s and his…thing may have been one of the worst-kept secrets at the hospital, but he still didn’t like being seen in such a humiliating situation by one of the top doctors in the country. He even had cum on his shirt.

            Aomine, on the other hand, looked abnormally pleased, eyes glinting as he bared his teeth in a smile at Midorima.

            “As I was saying, Kagami was just showing me some different methods with cleaning products, since I’m so hopeless with them at home.”

            “He really is hopeless,” Kagami said with a weak laugh. “Can’t even do his own laundry. I had to wash his shirt last-.” Realizing what he was saying, he abruptly shut his mouth.

            Takao let out a snigger before clapping a hand over his mouth to prevent any more sounds from escaping. “You wash his clothes? You two are _really_ close.” Kagami glared. He liked Takao, but he was not in the mood for his teasing right now.

            “Regardless,” Midorima cut in. “You’re on the clock, Aomine. Remember where you are.”

  
            “Yeah, I’m at your old man’s hospital,” Aomine said snidely. Midorima turned red, though whether out of embarrassment or rage, Kagami couldn’t tell. “Since I’m still on the clock, like you said, maybe I could help you get that stick out of your ass.”

            As Midorima opened his mouth to respond, Takao stepped forward.

            “Shin-chan, we better go attend to your patients,” he said, his mirth gone and replaced with a pacifying look. Midorima closed his mouth, and, with a huff, turned around and headed down the hallway with a quick stride. Takao looked back at Aomine and Kagami. “I know he’s…a little hard to handle sometimes, but you shouldn’t be so mean to him, Aomine. He’s sensitive, you know.”

            Aomine snorted but raised up his hands in surrender. Takao winked at Kagami before turning to chase after Midorima.

            “ _Cleaning products_?” Kagami hissed, turning to face Aomine. “You couldn’t have come up with something better than _cleaning products_?”

            “Come on, Kagami, everyone knows we’re boning anyway. I only said it so you could maintain your honor or whatever.”

            “Well, that didn’t help defend my honor at all,” Kagami said, shoulders sagging.

            Aomine laughed. “Well, it was only Doctor Dickhead. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I gotta get back to work. See you around, babe.” He gave Kagami a quick smack on the ass and ran off before he had a chance to retaliate.

            "Stop calling me babe!" Kagami yelled after him.

            He looked down at his ruined shirt and heaved a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's gonna be a plot I swear!!
> 
> This is inspired by 2カメラ's art on pixiv. I love their work, but be warned, sometimes they post shota -_-.


	2. Pills and Potions

            Kagami stopped by a café before work and, out of the goodness of his heart and _nothing else_ , decided to get Aomine coffee and a donut. He had about ten minutes before his shift started, so he was just waiting. With Aomine. Purely coincidental.

            Aomine took the offered donut with a grunt of thanks before launching into a tirade about Midorima, who he had been sharing shifts with recently, for five minutes straight.

“I just don’t understand why you hate him so much,” Kagami said, cutting him off. To be honest, he didn’t care too much either way about Midorima, but at this point, disagreeing with Aomine was a reflex. “Sure, he’s kinda weird, but he can’t really be _that_ bad.”

            “Well, of course _you_ would think that,” Aomine grumbled.

            Kagami frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            “…Forget it,” Aomine said, avoiding his gaze. “I just don’t like people who’ve had everything handed to them, and then act like they’re better than me. You would get it if you had to work with him like I do.”

            He was hiding something, Kagami could tell. But that was his choice. It wasn’t like they were boyfriends or anything, so it wasn’t Kagami’s place to question why Aomine was acting strange.

            When they parted ways for the day, Kagami decided to follow Aomine’s suggestion and forget about it.

 

* * *

 

            The next week, Kagami was on morning shift again. He’d been at it since 3 in the morning. It was past the morning rush, so he and his partners had begun to relax in the ambulance, not expecting many calls for the rest of the shift.

            Of course, less than three minutes later they got a call to a restaurant where a man was having an aneurysm. Kuroko pressed on the pedal with his usual finesse, which was none at all, causing a dozing Furihata to bang his head against the window. Kagami nearly slid from his spot on the bench in the back.

            “Jesus, Kuroko, we’re supposed to save people from accidents, not _cause_ them!”

            “Kagami-kun, have we ever been in an accident? We’re the fastest responders on staff, too. You should trust me.”

            Kagami made a face before beginning to prepare the needed supplies in the back. Before he knew it, they were outside a fancy restaurant. As much as Kagami hated to admit it, Kuroko was right about one thing: they were the fastest responders on staff. They usually even beat the police to the scene, with the side-effect of Kagami and Furihata having severe whiplash at the end of the ride. Regardless, they both jumped out of the ambulance and rushed into the restaurant.

            The motto for strokes was “time lost is brain lost”. The most EMTs could do for stroke victims was get them to the hospital in the shortest amount of time possible, so as soon as they had loaded the man into the back of the ambulance and strapped him down, Kuroko took off. He was all professionalism, riding just as fast as before but somehow much smoother.

            When they reached the hospital, Furihata and Kagami quickly unloaded the man and wheeled his cot inside, rushing him to a doctor for emergency treatment.

            Seeing that he had done everything he could, Kagami wished the doctor luck and took his leave. As he and Furihata headed back to the secretary to fill out the necessary paperwork, he spotted Midorima and gave him a wave. To his surprise, Midorima saw and waved back, albeit a little stiffly.

            “I’ve never seen Midorima acknowledge any EMT before,” Furihata said in awe.

            “He’s not as bad as everyone thinks,” Kagami said smugly, filing this event away into his mental “Proof to Show Aomine that Midorima is Not a Complete Asshole” folder.

 

* * *

 

            At eleven-thirty, Kagami practically ran back to the employee break room where he had stored his jacket. He was eager to eat all of the leftovers in his fridge and spend the rest of the day sleeping. As he was leaving, he slammed right into somebody’s chest. He grabbed their shirt to keep from falling.

            “Ah, I’m sorry,” he said, “I wasn’t looking…Midorima?”

            Midorima extracted himself from his grip. “Hello, Kagami. Excuse me, I have to get my bag.”     

            Kagami nodded and moved aside, but before he could take another step to leave, Midorima said, “That man you brought in this morning is doing fine, by the way.”

            “Oh, that’s good. I thought Aida was the one taking care of him, though.”

            “She was, but…that man is the CEO of the Akashi Corporation. I went to university with his son. Aida thought, rightly, that I should be there.”

            Kagami whistled. “Damn, the Akashi family owns half the country. You’re a bigshot too though, aren’t you?”

            Adjusting his glasses and not meeting Kagami’s gaze, Midorima said, “My father is. I just…I’m just a doctor. That’s all I want to be.”

            He looked a little sad. “Well, uh,” Kagami said, unsure how to comfort him. “Um. Were you going to lunch?”

            “Yes. I brought a sandwich.” He reached in his bag and pulled out a squashed plastic bag. Kagami had to smile.

            “That looks terrible,” he said slowly. “If you want, we could go out to eat together. I was just gonna go home and eat leftovers, but I can’t just leave you with that Wonderbread shit.”

            Midorima’s eyes widened in shock. Any regret Kagami had at his impulsive invitation withered. He wondered if anyone at the hospital besides Takao, who would talk to a wall if left alone with it long enough, had ever extended the hand of friendship to Midorima. Even he must get lonely sometimes.

            He recovered quickly, fixing his glasses again as his eyes returned to their usual size. However, there was a tinge of pink in his cheek as he nodded.

 

* * *

 

            Kagami had expected them to share an awkward lunch, part ways, and go back to rarely speaking to each other. When they sat down in the family restaurant and Midorima primly observed their surroundings, it certainly seemed like it would end that way.

            That was, until Midorima placed the large stuffed alpaca he had been holding under his arm onto the table. Kagami raised a brow. Midorima looked at him in confusion, then, seeing where Kagami’s gaze was directed, cleared his throat.

            “It’s Oha-Asa’s lucky item for Cancers today.”

            Kagami had heard rumors about how superstitious Midorima was. When he first started working at the hospital, he had been bemused by the sight of a highly respected doctor walking around with random objects that got weirder every time he saw them. He initially thought that perhaps they were to cheer up hospitalized children, but he was informed by Takao that Midorima was “a little different”, or as Aomine put it, “a freak”. Then again, Midorima was a surgeon. He probably needed all the luck he could get.

            “You must think I’m crazy,” Midorima sniffed. “But Oha-Asa has never failed me before.”

            Shrugging, Kagami said, “I don’t think you’re crazy. I mean, I wouldn’t carry around a stuffed alpaca for it, but everyone could use some luck sometimes.”

            Midorima looked taken aback. “What’s your sign?” he demanded.

            Kagami nearly choked. “That sounds like a bad pick-up line,” he laughed. Midorima blushed. Kagami took pity on him, adding, “But I’m a Leo.”

            “Hmm…” Midorima breathed, his cheeks returning to their usual color. “Leo’s lucky item today was…a basketball, I believe. I didn’t listen to the rest of the horoscope, though.”

            “A basketball, huh? Shouldn’t be a problem. Got plenty of those at home.”

            “Do…do you play? I used to. Play, I mean.” Midorima was clearly unused to talking to people about non-medical things. It was kind of endearing.                                            

            “Hell yeah. Me and Aomine play whenever we get the chance, which is almost never, but yeah,” Kagami bit his lip, then said, “You should join us sometime.”

            Midorima, who had been leaning forward, abruptly sat up. “Absolutely not.”

            “What?” Kagami said, surprised at the sudden coldness.

            “I…” Midorima sighed. “Thank you for the offer, but…”

            Kagami looked at him for a moment, then laughed. “It’s Aomine, isn’t it? He’s an asshole, I know, but you gotta see him play. It’s incredible.” He sighed. Aomine’s play was truly amazing. It was what had made him fall in lo- nope. Never mind. He wasn’t going down that path of thought right now. Shaking his head, he said, “Alright. Even if you don’t wanna play, we could still talk about it. So, who’s your favorite team?”

            They ended up talking about basketball for a while. By the time they got their food, Kagami learned that Midorima preferred three-pointers to dunks (which led to a spirited argument), that his favorite team was the Lakers (which led to another argument). By the time they were finished their meal, Kagami had learned that Midorima’s father owned not only the hospital but a giant medical supply company, that he had a younger sister, and that he had known Takao since high school. When they parted ways, they had exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up together again. At Midorima’s goodbye, he couldn’t help but smile widely at the man.

            They began to meet for lunch on a weekly basis, sometimes going out, sometimes just staying in the hospital cafeteria. Kagami was just as confused as the rest of the staff at how well he got along with Midorima. He was notoriously hot-headed and loud, whereas Midorima was stuffy and reserved. They disagreed over a lot of things, but somehow it always led to friendly arguments that were different than the heated ones he shared with Aomine. He and Aomine argued because they were too similar; it was inevitable that they would butt heads. But when he and Midorima argued, it was more about trying to show their point of view, which led to them learning more about each other. Kagami found it a pleasant change of scenery. More and more, he began to look forward to their weekly lunches.

 

* * *

 

            A few weeks later, Kagami heard Midorima laugh for the first time. Kagami had been so excited to eat he had gotten the hiccups before he had even taken a bite. He stuffed his usual amount of food in anyway, and immediately began choking. After he managed to gulp it down, he noticed Midorima clutching his hand over his mouth.

            “Are you okay, Mido-”

            A snort escaped Midorima, and at the sight of Kagami’s enraged face he laughed out loud. Although it was quickly stifled, it had been enough for the heads of other hospital employees to stare at them in shock and Kagami to stare at Midorima in awe. He had a nice laugh. It soothed the anger he felt at being the reason for his laughter in the first place.

            “You’re just like a little kid,” he had said as he restored his face to its usual dignified expression, causing Kagami to sputter and chuck a fry at his face.

            When Kagami left the cafeteria to take a cat nap before getting back to work, he ran into Aomine just as he was waving goodbye to Midorima. Aomine shot a glare in Midorima’s direction before dragging Kagami through the halls into his office and shoving him into a chair. He closed the blinds before licking at Kagami’s mouth, spreading his legs, and kneeling between them.

            Just seeing him like that made Kagami more excited he should have been after about three seconds of contact. As Aomine pulled his cock out from his pants, Kagami panted, “Aomine, what-”

            “Shut up,” Aomine advised, before wrapping his lips around Kagami’s dick and quickly sucking him to full hardness. It wasn’t really difficult with the way he always got Kagami going.

            Kagami normally loved when Aomine did this. Aomine liked it rough, liked it when Kagami fucked his mouth and used him. He liked watching Aomine come just from giving him a blowjob. But today was different. They were both still reacting like they always did, but…there was none of their usual playful banter, just blue eyes staring up him filled with some emotion Kagami couldn’t identify.

            As Aomine moaned around Kagami’s cock and came into his own hand, Kagami followed with a cry. Aomine swallowed, wiped his mouth, and stood up abruptly, grabbing a tissue box from his desk to clean up his hand. When he was finished, he headed for the door. No teasing, no smirks, not even a goodbye.

            “Aomine,” he called, struggling to simultaneously tuck himself back into his pants and get up chase him. He couldn’t let him go, he didn’t know why, he just couldn’t. “Aomine, wait, why are you acting so weird?”

            Aomine stopped and turned, gazing at him. “Don’t you have work to do?”

            Kagami could only watch as he walked out the door.

 

* * *

 

            Aomine avoided him for a few days after that, but Kagami eventually managed to corner him in a bathroom.

            “Here to return the favor, Kagami?” Aomine asked with his usual drawl.

            “Don’t act like you haven’t been avoiding me.”

            “I’m not your boyfriend. I don’t have to spend time with you. We’re just fucking.”

            Ignoring the stinging in his chest, Kagami snarled, “I _know_ that. But you’ve been acting like more of an asshole than usual and I don’t take shit from anybody, especially you. What’s up with you?”

            Aomine crossed his arms. After a long moment, he finally said, “You fucking him?”

            Kagami wasn’t sure he heard correctly. “What?”

            “Stop playing dumb,” Aomine said, blue eyes ablaze. “I already knew he had a thing for you, but now you’re both acting like blushing schoolgirls.” At Kagami’s confused look, he sighed in exasperation. “Do I honestly have to spell it out for you? Midorima, the goddamn weirdo.”

            Kagami’s mouth fell open. “ _Midorima?_ You think I- you think _he_ \- oh my god, Aomine. We’re just friends, you absolute prick.”

            “He’s the one who’s a prick,” Aomine said childishly. “It pisses me off.”

            “Stop pouting,” Kagami laughed. There was the Aomine he knew. “Anyway, Midorima’s a nice guy.” When he saw Aomine’s incredulous look, he added, “Okay, he’s weird and awkward as hell, but nice. Next time we have lunch in the cafeteria, why don’t you eat with us?”

            Aomine looked unsure, but agreed. He seemed to be in a better mood than he had been for the past few days, and that was enough to make Kagami content. Who knew? Maybe Aomine and Midorima could even become friends.

 

* * *

 

            Aomine and Midorima did not become friends. Looking back, he really should have expected it. Kagami had invited Takao, master of small talk, to help ease the tension he anticipated would arise. However, he was not expecting it to arise as fast as it did.

            Aomine took the seat across from Kagami in order to keep him updated via facial expression on how displeased he was with the whole arrangement. When Midorima and Takao arrived, Takao greeted them cheerfully and slid onto the bench next to Aomine. That left Midorima and his ceramic pig statue to sit next to Kagami, who was already halfway through the several boxes of food he had brought.      

            “Good afternoon, Kagami, Aomine,” Midorima said stiffly.

            “Yo, Takao,” Aomine said. Kagami kicked him. “And Midorima,” he added reproachfully.

            Midorima gave a nod, then pulled out his usual sandwich, handing it to Kagami. Kagami stopped stuffing his face. He took out the sandwich and sniffed at it, looking closely.

            “Kagami’s been trying to teach Shin-chan how to cook,” Takao said to Aomine. “It’s a lost cause. I don’t think he can even boil eggs.”

            Kagami suddenly raised his arms and threw the sandwich into a trashcan, shaking his head. “Terrible. I don’t know how you can mess up a cold cut sandwich, but you’ve done it. Multiple times.” Midorima turned red as Takao cackled. Kagami grabbed one of his unopened Tupperware boxes and handed one to Midorima. “Figured this would happen. I brought an extra for you.”

            “Thank you Kaga-”

            “You _cook_ for him?” Aomine said suddenly. Kagami could feel the irritation rolling off of Aomine in waves, but his voice as monotone as always. “Ever the housewife.”

            “I don’t see how being able to feed oneself makes a person a housewife,” Midorima said coolly just as Kagami spat, “Who you calling a housewife?”

            Aomine took a sip from his drink. “It was just a joke,” he said.

            Kagami glared at him before turning to smile softly at Midorima in gratitude. Midorima’s lips quirked upwards. Still smiling, Kagami turned back to his food. As he was about to take a bite, Aomine leaned forward to eat a piece of pork off of Kagami’s chopsticks. Except he didn’t just eat it. He stared directly into Kagami’s eyes, promising all sorts of NC-17 things with his leer before he slid his mouth off the chopsticks and sat back up. He licked his lips, smirking, but now, his eyes flicked to the person next to Kagami.

            “Eat your own damn food,” Kagami grumbled, willing the heat in his cheeks to cool down. He may not have been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he knew what was going on. Aomine was trying to assert his dominance over Midorima by dangling Kagami in front of him. It didn’t mean anything. Aomine liked the power it gave him, not Kagami.

            What Kagami didn’t understand was why Aomine considered Midorima such a threat anyway. He must have been paranoid, because there was no way Midorima was interested in him. He just didn’t have many other friends, that was all.

            He gave Takao a meaningful look. Takao rolled his eyes, but began chattering and the mood of the table lightened considerably. That is, until Aomine got bored and placed his foot between Kagami’s legs, gently kneading with his shoe. Kagami, who had been telling a story about Kuroko, gasped and stopped talking.

            He couldn’t exactly remove Aomine’s foot without either getting his balls smashed in or revealing that he was currently receiving a footjob. He squirmed, glaring at a grinning Aomine, but he couldn’t help the way his body was reacting.

            “Are you okay, Kagami?” Midorima asked. “You looked flushed.” He leaned closer to Kagami, placing his hand on his forehead. “You might have a fever.” His breath tickled Kagami’s ear, making a hitched moan escape his lips before he covered it up with a cough.

            Kagami turned even redder when he saw Takao’s eyes widen, flickering back and forth between him and Aomine, a grin spreading on his face. Aomine, however, looked enraged.

            “Kagami, you really look feverish,” Midorima continued. “You should really go-”

            Aomine yelped as Kagami kicked him in his unoccupied shin, finally withdrawing his foot. Kagami stood up, facing away from the table. “I’m gonna…I’m…bye,” he said before taking off towards the nearest handicapped bathroom. He really didn’t want to be disturbed.

            As he was splashing his face with cold water, the door clicked behind him. He thought he had locked it.  
            “I’ll be out in a minute,” he called. The door swung open anyway, revealing the last person he wanted to see at the moment. “You can’t use your keys to invade the bathroom. Get out.”

            “Come on, Kagami, you don’t mean that,” Aomine said. Kagami watched him stalk towards him in the mirror, graceful as always. He wrapped his arms him, letting one trail to his belt. “Let’s finish what we started at lunch,” he murmured, his lips brushing the nape of Kagami’s neck, sending shivers down his spine like always.

            But that was how it always was. Kagami met his own eyes in the mirror while Aomine worked his buckle undone.

            “Enough,” he said. Aomine ignored him. “Aomine, _enough._ ” He grabbed Aomine’s wrists and ripped them away from his body, whirling around to face him. “You can’t just do that to me in public and pretend nothing happened. What the fuck is your problem?”                                  

            Aomine’s eyes widened before his gaze hardened.

            “Do you like him?”

            “No!” Kagami cried. _It’s you I like_ , he thought. But he said, “What is this, high school? Midorima is just my friend. A better one than you.” He turned back around, grabbing a paper towel to dab at his still wet face.

            “You made him food. You kept smiling at him. You moaned when he fucking _breathed_ on you. Even if you’re not fucking him now, you want to, don’t you?”

            “Why do you even care? Even if I was sleeping with him, you said it yourself: you’re not my boyfriend. We’re just fucking! You’re acting like a child.”

            “Well,” Aomine paused for a moment. “You’re right. I just don’t like people touching my things.”

            Kagami’s eyes flicked up to meet Aomine’s in the mirror. Seeing nothing in those blue eyes, he tossed the paper towel in the trash with more force than necessary, trying to pretend his heart wasn’t aching. He shoved Aomine out of the way as he stormed towards the door. “I’m not your fucking possession,” he spat. “I can't do this anymore. I don’t even want to see your face right now. Stay the fuck away from me.”

            With that, he walked out and slammed the door behind him.

        

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aomine: *doesn't know how to cope with emotions* *sucks a dick*
> 
> kind of dialogue heavy but eh
> 
> I live in Baltimore, so with the curfew, I didn't have much to do and got this out earlier than expected.  
> I didn't even mean to make this chapter nsfw it just kind of happened. Thanks to Pueppie for kicking me into action when I got stuck!
> 
> More Mido next chapter! Please comment and tell me what you think!


	3. novacane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so this chapter contains a description of a car accident (nothing too graphic) and mentions of blood and broken bones. Just to warn anyone who might get uncomfortable.

            Three weeks.

            Three weeks had passed since Kagami last spoke to Aomine, but it felt like months.

            Aomine had become a part of his routine. He knew that it was dangerous, knew that inevitably, one of them would catch feelings. Probably him. If he had better sense, he would have stopped their “relationship” before someone had to pay the price. But he never had good sense, and now Aomine’s absence made Kagami feel like there was a gaping hole in his chest. Aomine apparently only thought of him as a toy. But it still hurt.

            Even so, Kagami missed him.

            But he had too much pride, and he would not go back to him unless he apologized for what he said. Knowing Aomine, an apology would take a long time to come. Maybe it would never come at all. So Kagami figured that when he and Aomine spoke again, it would be on purely professional terms. It didn’t matter that Aomine could make his heart go 250 miles per hour just by standing there. He could get over it. He _would_. Eventually.

            His friends and colleagues had picked up on his melancholy mood. He had to assure Tatsuya that he did not need to travel all the way to Tokyo to beat someone up. And _no,_ Alex, he was not _sulking._ Kuroko’s silent stares were the worst. They all made Kagami want to scream.

            The only one who wasn’t pestering him about it was Midorima, so Kagami began to hang around him more than usual. He definitely noticed something was wrong, but he hadn’t said anything. Yet.

            Kagami came into work in a bad mood, which he always seemed to be in lately, and tired, since he hadn’t been getting much sleep. He was hanging up his coat in the employees’ close when an out-of-breath Midorima threw open the door.

            “I thought I saw you,” he panted. Had he run down the hallway?

            “...Yeah. I’m here. What’s up?”

            Midorima reached into his pocket and pulled a small pouch out, pushing it towards Kagami and almost hitting him in the face. “For you,” he said.

            Gingerly, Kagami took the pouch, turning it over in his hands. “Um…thanks,” he said. “What is it?”

            Midorima blinked. “You don’t…oh, you’re a returnee, I forgot. It’s an amulet,” he said. With an air of superiority, he added. “Still, even children know that. Didn’t your mother ever give you one to put on your backpack in elementary school?”

            “My mom died before I went to school.”

            “Ah, I…I’m sorry,” Midorima looked away, shifting on his feet.

            Kagami stepped closer to him, patting him on the shoulder. “Hey. It’s alright. You didn’t know.” Midorima still looked miserable. “So…an amulet, huh?”

            “Yes,” said Midorima, adjusting his glasses, a nervous habit Kagami picked up on a few weeks prior. “This specific one,” he pointed at the pouch in Kagami’s hand, “is for happiness. I know you have been sad lately.” Kagami frowned, yanking his hand back from Midorima’s shoulder. “Kagami, I-”

            “Are you gonna start now too?” he half-yelled. “I’m fine! I don’t need everyone bothering me and-” he quieted when Midorima placed a hand on his shoulder, just like Kagami had done to him moments before.

            “I know it’s none of my business,” he said. “You don’t have to tell me anything. But I just wanted you to know that I…I’m here. If you need help or if just want to talk.” He sounded as if he was reading off of an index card. Takao had probably helped him work out what to say earlier. But still, it was a sweet gesture, and Kagami felt himself relax.

            “You’re a big worrywart, aren’t you?” he said, a trace of a grin on his face.

            Midorima narrowed his eyes. “I am most certainly _not._ ”

            “Fine, fine, whatever you say,” Kagami said, mouth twitching. “Meet me at the cafeteria later?”

            “Leo’s luck is very high today, so maybe you will be lucky enough to see me.” He turned and walked out of the door.

            Kagami stared at his retreating back in wonder. Did Midorima just _sass_ him?

            Laughing to himself, he attached Midorima’s amulet to his keys.

 

* * *

 

 

          A few days later, Kagami had the unfortunate luck of a Friday night shift. Normally he didn’t mind, but he hadn’t had a weekend off in ages. Since more emergencies occurred on the weekend than any other time, it was understandable that most of the staff had to work. But still, Kagami would’ve appreciated a night to himself, preferably one that involved going to a bar, drinking, and hanging out with his friends. But mostly drinking. And if he went, he definitely wouldn’t invite Kuroko or Furihata. Their worried glances at him were pissing him off.

            “It’s been weeks, Kagami-kun. Maybe you should try talking to him.”

            Kagami denied knowing what or who Kuroko was talking about.

            Kuroko stared at him, his wide eyes judgmental. “Everyone knows, Kagami-kun. I know, Furihata-kun knows, the doctors and nurses know. I’m pretty sure even the patients know about your…relationship with Aomine-kun. Furihata-kun and I are worried.” He sighed, turning to look at the wheel of the ambulance.

            Furihata nodded. “Kagami, we don’t want to pry, but…it’s not good for you to be so distracted on the job.”

            Just as Kagami opened his mouth to retort, they received a call for a car accident nearby.

            “We’ll continue this later, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko promised as they took off.

 

* * *

           

            The scene of the car accident was gruesome. An SUV had rammed into a small sedan, smashing it into a guardrail. Firefighters were using the Jaws of Life on one side of the smaller car, but the guardrail was making it difficult for them. A young girl was in the arms of a police officer, bleeding from a cut on her forehead and obviously in pain, but still struggling to get back to the car. Between wheezing breaths, she yelled at the officer to let her go.

            When the officer spotted Kagami and Furihata with the stretcher, she signaled them over.

            “It was a drunk driver,” she said. She looked down at the girl. “Please, take her. Her mother’s still in the car, but we’re doing all we can. She’s just going to hurt herself even more if she stays here.”

            When the officer tried to pass the little girl to Kagami, she tried to pull away, but suddenly yelped in pain. Her arm was bent at the wrong angle.

            Kagami wasn’t very good with kids. His face was simply too scary. But he used his softest voice and gentlest touch as he tugged her towards the stretcher.

            “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he chanted. “They’re gonna help your mom out, you’ll be okay.”

            The girl quieted, tears streaming silently down her face, but allowed herself to be strapped to the stretcher and wheeled into the ambulance.

            As they drove, Kagami wiped her face clean. The cut on her forehead was shallow, but head wounds always bled a lot. As he held some gauze against the cut, he asked, “What’s your name?”

            The girl sniffed. “Momoko.”

            “Nice to meet you, Momoko,” he said, still using his soft voice. “My name’s Kagami Taiga.”

            “Don’t talk to me like that. Treat me normally. I’m eleven, not a baby.”

            Kagami fell silent. He wasn’t surprised. Kids always hated him.

Lifting the gauze, he saw the cut had stopped bleeding. While he placed a band aid over it, Momoko mumbled, “I’m sorry. I’m just worried. Where is my mom? Do you know yet?”

            “She’s out of the car, and being driven to the hospital,” Furihata called to the back. “We’ve just been notified.”

            “You’ll see her soon,” Kagami said.

            Momoko shut her eyes tightly, tears beginning to leak out again. “She didn’t answer me when I called her name. She _always_ answers me.”

            Kagami didn’t know what to say. The side of the car where her mother sat had been almost completely caved in. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he didn’t want to be blunt about it either.

            Apparently though, an answer wasn’t required. She simply stuck the hand of her good arm towards Kagami. He grabbed her hand and didn’t let go until it was time to wheel her into the emergency room.

 

* * *

 

 

            Kagami decided to visit Momoko the next day, arriving early for his shift so he could do so. He had heard from the EMTs who had picked up her mother that the woman had fallen into a coma almost immediately after the collision. It wasn’t likely that she would wake up.

            When he walked into the room, Momoko was asleep, positioned awkwardly so as not to hurt her broken arm and ribs. Kagami stepped towards her, unsure what to do. Should he ruffle her hair? He always liked that when he was a kid. Or would that be weird?

            Sighing, he sank into a chair by her bedside. He felt creepy watching her sleep, so almost as soon as he sat down he stood back up and left. There was a nurse in front of the door.

            “Excuse me,” he said, making to leave, but paused. “Does she have any family other than her mother to watch over her while she’s here?”

            The nurse looked back and forth, then leaned towards Kagami conspiratorially. Instinctively, Kagami crouched to match her height. “Her father was notified last night,” she whispered. “He’s in Beijing on business, and says he’ll get back to Japan as soon as he can, but he has to close an important deal first. What kind of father is that?”

            Kagami stood up straight, looking into Momoko’s room with pity as the nurse entered it.

            _Taiga listened to the dial tone in his ear, hoping he had called the right number. He could barely reach the payphone and because of that, had to punch in the numbers haphazardly._

_The person on the other end picked up. “Kagami speaking.”_

_“Dad? It’s me.”_

_“Oh, hey sport. Is it important? I’m a little bit busy right now.”_

_“Um…” Taiga wound the phone cord around his finger anxiously. “The doctors said that Mom is getting worse.”_

_“Yes, they notified me.”_

_Taiga waited. His dad said nothing. “Dad? Can you…come stay with me? I’m scared. I know that you’re-”_

_“Taiga,” his dad sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t just fly over there right in the middle of a conference. I’ll be back in California before you know it, but until then, you have to be strong. You’re almost a man now.”_

_Taiga nodded, forgetting that his dad couldn’t see it._

_“Anyway, I’ve got to go, Taiga. I’ll see you.”_

_The phone clicked._

            Kagami shook his head. That was all in the past. He shouldn’t be thinking about himself right then. With one last glance towards the room, he walked down the halls to find his coworkers.

 

* * *

 

 

            The visits to Momoko became a daily occurrence. She was rude at best and completely silent at worst, but every day when Kagami left she would ask him to visit her again. It was nice to know that he was a comfort to her in some small way.

            Never before had he become so involved with a patient’s recovery. Sure, he felt happy when they got better and sad when they didn’t, but really, they were just passerby in each other’s lives. But Momoko was different. Perhaps it was selfishly motivated, because Kagami saw a lot of himself in her. The circumstances were different, but at the root of it, things were the same. She was losing her mother, and her father wasn’t there. It was too much for a little girl to carry on her shoulders. He remembered that weight, growing up. Sometimes, he still felt it. He couldn’t leave Momoko to that fate, that loneliness. There wasn’t much he could do but hope that her mother would wake up, although it became less likely with every day that passed.

            Between thinking about Momoko and thinking about his past and thinking about Aomine, Kagami began to sleep even less than he had been. His job fucked with his sleep schedule as it was, but he usually made sure to get enough shut-eye. But his mind kept spinning and wouldn’t let him rest. Midorima kept encouraging him to take time off, but if he did that, Kagami knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.

            On the day Momoko’s mother died, Momoko was checked out by a man who was a subordinate of her father. Momoko had waited for Kagami to return from his shift to say good-bye. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but aside from that her face was like a mask. She thanked Kagami for taking care of her, all of her spark gone, and walked away. As the man made to follow her, Kagami grabbed his arm.

            “Sir?”

            “Tell her father to grow some balls, and take care of that child,” Kagami said through gritted teeth. The man gave him a look, then nodded, before turning around to follow Momoko.

             Once they were out of sight, Kagami turned and stumbled through the halls of the hospital like a drunkard. Aomine. He needed to find Aomine, pride be damned. His head hurt, his heart hurt, he was so fucking _tired_ , and he just wanted to be held. He didn’t care if Aomine didn’t love him. He just wanted to feel his warmth.

            “Kagami?” a voice called. To his left, Midorima was exiting a room, a patient’s file in one hand. Kagami swore internally. Why did Midorima always catch him at his weakest moments?

            “Hey, Midorima,” he said. “I’m…have you seen Aomine?”

            “No, I haven’t had the pleasure today.” When he stepped closer, Midorima said, “Kagami, are you okay? Is it about Momoko? You look…you look-”

            “Like shit?” Kagami supplied.

            Midorima smiled. “Well, I wouldn’t say it in such a – Kagami?”

            Kagami opened his mouth to ask what he was looking at, but stopped when he felt his eyes burning, tears threatening to leak from the corners of his eyes. Ashamed, he looked at the ground and wiped his face roughly.

            Suddenly, something bony bumped into his head. Lifting his head, he realized it was Midorima’s collarbone. And those were Midorima’s arms loosely wrapped around him. As far as hugs went, it was an incredibly shitty one, but still, Kagami let himself sag into Midorima’s hold, bringing his hands up to clutch at his shirt. They stayed like that until a nurse cleared his throat as he walked by. When he felt Midorima stiffen, Kagami reluctantly pulled away. To his embarrassment, there was a long trail of snot on Midorima’s shirt, still connected to his nose. Midorima looked at it with distaste, but shook his head at Kagami’s apology.

            “It’s fine. Oha-Asa’s lucky item for Cancers today was a handkerchief,” he said, producing a flowery one from his pocket to wipe himself down.

            “Oh,” Kagami said, laughing weakly as he wiped his nose. “I was wondering where your item was today. Anyway, you better get back to work.”

            “Yes, I should. _You_ , on the other hand, should go home. You need to rest.”

            “I know, I just don’t really feel like being alone right now. I’ll go find Aomine, or Kuroko, or –”

            “You could stay with me.”

           “- maybe find a 24 hour diner, or – what?”

            Pushing his glasses up his nose, Midorima repeated, “You can stay with me. My shift’s done in less than an hour, and I live nearby. I don’t mind if you stay over, if you don’t mind waiting for me to finish working.”

            Kagami was so surprised he blurted out an agreement without thinking twice about it. Five minutes later he found himself sitting on a couch at the hospital coffee shop, waiting for Midorima’s shift to end. Knowing that it would only keep him up later, he had to exercise all of his mental strength to prevent himself from getting a cup of expresso like his body was begging him to. He must have dozed off at some point, because one minute he was staring at an ugly painting on the wall, and the next minute Midorima was touching his shoulder, gently shaking him awake.

            Twitching in surprise, Kagami sat up. Through a yawn, he said, “Finished?” Midorima nodded, staring at his groggy face. “Something wrong?” Kagami asked as he pushed himself off the couch, checking his chin for any drool. Midorima’s nod turned to a quick shake of his head, his cheeks dusted pink. He turned around, leading Kagami to the exit.

            “This way,” Midorima said, turning left outside of the main exit of the hospital. They walked for one and a half blocks before Midorima stopped. Kagami looked around, confused, before he realized Midorima had opened a door and was holding it for him.

            “You live this close?” he said. “You’re kidding me.”

            “I never kid,” Midorima responded dryly.

            “You’re seriously married to your job, huh,” Kagami said, walking past Midorima into the lobby. “Not good. My dad was the same.”

            “I apologize for not living up to your standards,” Midorima said. His tone was light, but he looked rather pained. He led Kagami to an elevator.

            When Midorima pushed open the door to his apartment, Kagami wasn’t sure what to expect. Once he was inside, he didn’t know how he _hadn’t_ expected this.

            It was neat. Everything was in its proper place. The furniture was obviously expensive, but tasteful. And Kagami would literally kill for a kitchen like that. It would have looked like an apartment straight out of a magazine if it weren’t for the bookshelf filled with various lucky items, some which Kagami had seen, like the stuffed alpaca, and some which had yet to be debuted.

            “You keep all of them?” Kagami asked.

            “Only the ones that brought me exceptional luck.” He pointed to the lowest shelf. “And those are for the week ahead.”

            Kagami wanted to ask where he even bought all of those, but the desire to wash up and go to sleep was stronger.

            “Um, mind if I use your shower?”

            Midorima stared blankly at him for a moment before seeming to remember himself. “Oh, yes, of course. It’s through my bedroom. Let me get you a towel.” He led Kagami into his room, which, from what he could see, was nicely furnished but nondescript. He disappeared into a closet before returning with a towel. Kagami made to take it, but Midorima opened a drawer and pulled out a pajama set. “You can sleep in these tonight.”

            Kagami wanted to make fun of him, but considered how Midorima was kind enough to let him stay over and refrained. After his shower, he realized that the pajama shirt was not going to fit. He was a lot broader than Midorima, and if he attempted to button it up it would end up ripping. So he decided to forgo the shirt completely, just wearing the pants. They were a bit too long on him (which pissed him off: he didn’t need a reminder that Midorima had a good four inches on him) and kind of snug around his ass, but since Midorima could be prudish sometimes, he wore them rather than just his boxers like he wanted.

            The bedroom was empty when he left the bathroom. After folding the pajama shirt and putting it back in its drawer, he found Midorima sitting in an armchair in the living room, reading a book. When Kagami’s shadow fell over him, he looked up once and immediately looked back down at his book, fiddling with his glasses.

            “Why aren’t you wearing the shirt?” he asked, his voice much higher pitched than normal.

            “Didn’t fit,” Kagami said, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. Midorima lifted his eyes back up, gazing at him. “I think I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

            “Oh, okay,” Midorima said, sounding distracted. When he saw Kagami about to sit on the couch, he started. “Wait! You can use the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch. You’re my guest.”

            “Nah, man, it’s fine. You’ve done more than enough for me already.” With that, he plopped himself down on the couch, only for it to break under his weight and send him crashing to the floor, yelling in surprise. He looked up at Midorima helplessly from amidst the wreckage. “I’m sorry, I’ll pay, that looked expensive –” he stopped blabbering when he noticed that Midorima was biting his lip to keep from laughing.

Kagami glared at him until he calmed down. Clearing his throat, Midorima said, “It’s fine. My sister got it for me, an antique. I never liked it much anyway. But your face when you fell…” he turned away, chuckling quietly. “It always seemed sturdy to me, but I guess it wasn’t enough to deal with an oaf like you.”

            Kagami ignored the oaf comment and got up, rubbing his sore bottom and trying to straighten out the mess he made.

            “Stop, I’ll do that tomorrow,” Midorima said. Kagami looked up at him. “You go sleep in my room. I’ll just sleep here.”

            Observing the elegant curve of Midorima’s neck, Kagami shook his head. “You’ll hurt your neck that way. I don’t mind sharing the bed.” When he saw Midorima preparing to protest, he added, “I’ll knock you out and tuck you in while you’re unconscious if I have to.”

            Midorima raised an eyebrow, but agreed with a fond tone in his voice. Kagami crawled into the bed as Midorima headed to take his own shower. He intended to stay awake and make sure Midorima wouldn’t try and sleep in the armchair, but the sounds of the shower seemed to force his eyes closed and lull him to sleep.

            He woke up a few hours later, confused as to where he was. Seeing Midorima lying next to him, illuminated by moonlight streaming through the window, he remembered the night before and relaxed, nuzzling deeper into his pillow. Then his eyes flew back open. At that moment, he realized three things.  

            First of all, Midorima was wearing a night cap. A fucking night cap, and looking cuter than any full grown man in a night cap had the right to look.

            Second of all, Midorima was not wearing his glasses. Of course he wouldn’t sleep with them on, but Kagami had never realized that he had such long and pretty eyelashes.

            Third of all, Kagami was experiencing an extremely unfortunate case of morning wood. (Or nighttime wood. Very early morning wood. Kagami really didn’t care about the semantics.)

            As he tried to escape the bed to go splash himself with cold water in the bathroom, he must have made too much noise, because Midorima’s eyes opened halfway.

            “Sorry, I’m going to the bathroom,” Kagami whispered. “Go back to sleep.”

            Midorima gave a sleepy nod and shut his eyes again, shifting his position. Before Kagami could stop it, Midorima’s knee brushed against his erection with just the right amount of pressure. His eyes flew open wide just as a hitched moan escaped Kagami’s mouth.

            “Kagami, is that -?”

           “No, yeah, fuck, I, I’m so sorry.” Embarrassed as hell, Kagami quickly got out of the bed and tried to rush to the bathroom. However before he could reach it, a hand closed around his arm, spinning him around. Kagami grimaced. How had he gotten up so fast?

            He tried to pull away but was stopped by the wall at his back. Finally, he met Midorima’s gaze, prepared to ask him what the hell he was doing, but all he could do was stare.

            Midorima looked as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Kagami knew that his own face was red, but he probably had nothing on Midorima right then, who was starting to resemble a tomato. His hair was messy, and that stupid hat had fallen off. But his eyes weren’t flustered. They looked…hungry.

            “Midorima,” Kagami began, but the end of the word turned into a soft yelp as a hand ghosted across his abdomen. His erection had been flagging, but something about Midorima’s slim fingers on the sensitive skin of his stomach made his cock twitch in interest.

            The hand became more certain, pressing harder and drifting lower. “Kagami,” Midorima said, in a voice Kagami barely even recognized. “Kagami, is this okay?”

            He knew he should say no. He didn’t need to fuck up another relationship with sex. He had already lost Aomine, he didn’t want to lose Midorima. Plus, he didn’t even like Midorima that way. But goddamn it, Kagami wanted to know what those graceful fingers felt like wrapped around his cock.

            So he wound his arms around Midorima’s neck, pulling him closer.

            Midorima braced one of his hands on the wall as he leaned into Kagami’s embrace, the other hand sliding beneath his waistband, pulling his cock out with a delicate touch. His fingertips traced the underside of his cock from balls to tip. Kagami bucked his hips forward.

            “Don’t tease,” he gasped. Midorima’s breath, right next to his ear, picked up, and he grasped Kagami’s cock fully. Apparently, he wasn’t done teasing yet. He started slow, working the foreskin back, before running his thumb over the head, spreading precum and moving his hand a little faster. Kagami tugged at Midorima’s shirt, urging him to get on with it. Finally, he wrapped his hand tighter, tugging at Kagami’s cock with gentle intent. “You can go harder, Mido –” he broke off with a moan as Midorima did what he said.

            He wasn’t quite sure if Midorima knew exactly what he was doing. His movements were clumsy and uncertain. But it still felt good, and his nose was nuzzled into Kagami’s neck, sending shivers across his skin with each breath. That was enough.

            With each sound Kagami let out, Midorima seemed to gain confidence. Kagami began thrusting his hips up into the waiting hand, holding onto Midorima tighter. He would have worried that he was choking the man, were it not for Midorima panting against his neck. His own erection kept brushing against Kagami’s thigh, drawing soft little whimpers from the back of his throat each time it made contact. The sound of Midorima’s hand around him and the sound of Midorima’s moans turned him on so much that with one more squeeze around his cock, he threw his head back and came, jaw slack. He banged his head on the wall pretty hard, but couldn’t care less.

            When he came down from his high, he loosened his grip on Midorima’s shoulders. Midorima pulled back, just looking at him, their breath mingling. He looked like he wanted to kiss him. Kagami didn’t want that. Kissing couldn’t be that intimate, he had kissed Aomine and look where that had gotten him. But for some reason, he felt that if he let Midorima kiss him, whatever friendship they had between them would break.

            Panicking, Kagami pushed him away slightly, ignoring the way Midorima tensed and focusing on the tent in his pants instead. Reaching out a hand, he rubbed the tip with his thumb, feeling how damp it already was through the fabric. Midorima hissed at the contact, but when Kagami looked up at his face, he looked more distressed and conflicted than turned on.

            “Kagami, you don’t have to…”

            “I want to. Do you want my mouth?”

            Midorima let out a strangled moan, but backed away. “No. Kagami, I…” he raised his hand to his face, trying to adjust glasses that weren’t there. “I was out of line. Just…go back to sleep.” He sounded like he was about to cry.

            “Midorima, are you –”

            “I’m going to go to the bathroom. Please just rest.”

            Kagami could only watch as he turned and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Did he regret it? Was he disgusted? And Kagami had let him do it, just like that. Unsure of what else to do, he went to the kitchen and wiped his stomach off. He wanted to leave, but he couldn’t get home at this hour. Curling up in the armchair, he heard the bathroom door open.

            “Kagami?” Midorima called. Kagami was silent. “Kagami, please, I…” He heard a pained sort of sigh from the bedroom, then the rustling of sheets as Midorima presumably got back into his bed.

            Kagami didn’t sleep a wink all night.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um...this was supposed to be 3k and here I am coming up on 5k...whoops.
> 
> Midorima gave Kagami an shiawase omamori. Omamori are sold at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, so Midorima had to go out of his way to get it.  
> On a side note, I don't know if the term "Jaws of Life" is used outside of the US. They are used to wrench open cars when people are stuck in them.
> 
> Sorry it took me a while to update, I just got home from college so I was running all over to see my friends again, haha. 
> 
> Also, thank you so much for all of your comments! They make me really happy, and I always go back and read them when I start to lose confidence in my writing. Much love!
> 
> Oops, I almost forgot! If you wanna talk to me, share headcanons, or whatever, my fic blog is uovos.


	4. Comfortably Numb

            To Kagami, navigating the hospital while avoiding two doctors was like navigating a minefield. In the hospital, there was not only Aomine and Midorima to deal with, but also Takao and Momoi, who would certainly bother him about two certain doctors. He was particularly careful about avoiding Momoi, because she, as the hospital counselor, had an uncanny ability to pick up on everything that was going on in somebody’s head just from hearing one word. Meanwhile, he was learning that as troubling as being the avoider was, it was even worse being avoided. At first, Midorima tried to talk to him normally when they saw each other, but it was painfully awkward. Midorima was obviously hurt, and wouldn’t even look Kagami in the eyes. It became so uncomfortable and painful that Midorima began to actively avoid Kagami, pretending that he didn’t see him when they passed each other in the halls. So Kagami spent his days in the ambulance. There, he had to deal with Kuroko and Furihata, but least they weren’t that vocal about their disapproval of how he was living lately, and Kagami could turn away when they gave him looks.

            Unfortunately, Kagami also was human, and sometimes had to use the bathroom. Today, his break must have been the wrong time to go, because almost as soon as he walked in he was face to face with Midorima.

The morning after the eventful night at Midorima’s, Kagami was still awake and staring at the clock in the living room when he heard a noise from the bedroom. It was still too early for Kagami to catch the train home. Six minutes later, Midorima emerged dressed for work. He glanced at Kagami.

            “Good morning,” he said, no warmth in his voice as he put on his coat. Kagami wasn’t surprised. He had been stupid and listened to his dick rather than his head (again) and now Midorima probably hated him. But maybe he still had a chance to fix things.

            “You’re sure up early,” he ventured. “A late shift last night and an early one this morning?”

            “Yes.”

            “That’s tough.”

            “Yes,” Midorima said again, grabbing an apple from the kitchen. “There’s cereal in the pantry if you want. I have to-”

            “Midorima,” Kagami said. “About last night…I-”

            “I have to go, Kagami. I’ll…see you around, I guess.” He took a few long strides and was out of the door.

            Shit.

            Kagami buried his face in his hands. Midorima was acting so different from his usual self. Or maybe Kagami didn’t know him as well as he thought he did. Maybe Midorima was as bad as Aomine always said he was and their entire friendship had just been to get into his pants. Did he think Kagami was easy? And Kagami had proved him right the night before, so he no longer wanted anything to do with him?

            But no, Midorima wasn’t like that. Even if Kagami and he had only been friends for a little while, Kagami knew that Midorima was too kind for that. He had been nothing but good to Kagami, and…

            By now, Kagami knew that Midorima liked him. He kept from admitting it to himself because he didn’t want to deal with it, but after last night, he had to face it. He had pulled away from Midorima when he tried to kiss him. Midorima wasn’t stupid, he had recognized that Kagami had basically just used him as an outlet, playing with his feelings. Kagami felt like the worst. Worse than Aomine, even. But the absolute worst was the idea that Midorima was out there, thinking poorly of Kagami.

Kagami…didn’t want that.

Ignoring the grumbling of his stomach, he straightened up the room so that it was like he had never been there, and got the hell out of the apartment.

            Now, standing in front of Midorima for the first time in weeks, he felt a bit overwhelmed. Midorima looked okay. A little worn out, but better than Kagami was looking these days. Kagami had so much he wanted to say, but as he opened his mouth to begin, Midorima brushed past him and went on his way without a word.

            He was still having doubts about where he stood with Midorima. It had been so long and still, Midorima made no effort to contact him.

            He swore, earning a glare from a nearby receptionist, and went to do what he came to do in the first place.

            When he left the restroom, he realized that today was the luckiest day of his life, because he heard Aomine’s voice calling, “Get your ass over here.”

            He jumped, but when his eyes landed on Aomine’s figure, he realized Aomine wasn’t speaking to him. He wasn’t even looking in his direction, rather, down a connecting hallway. Kagami furrowed his brows. Who _was_ Aomine talking to like that, if not him?

            To his surprise, it was Midorima who appeared, reluctantly following Aomine into a room. Unable to help himself, Kagami walked up quietly and stood next to the ajar door, pressing his back to the wall.

            “-do to him?” he heard Aomine say. “He looks worse every time I see him! You act like you care so much about him, but you don’t know anything about him, his past, or why he’s so sad a lot of the time-”

            “He’s been sad because of you,” Midorima interjected.

            “…yeah. Because of me. But now, he looks hurt every time he walks past you too, so I repeat, what the hell did you do to him?”

            There was a long sigh. “We…” Midorima paused.

            “We what?” Aomine demanded. There was a loud thump. Kagami chanced a peek through the open part of the door, seeing that Aomine grabbed Midorima’s coat and pushed him against the wall. What the hell was he thinking? But before Kagami could go in and intervene, Midorima started speaking. Kagami pulled his head away from the doorway, deciding to keep his cover.

“A few weeks ago, when a little girl’s mother died, Kagami was really upset. I let him stay over my place because he was having a hard time.”

            “That’s it?” Midorima must have made a face, because Aomine suddenly let out an unpleasant and mirthless laugh. “Oh, so you fucked.”

            “We didn’t!” Midorima squeaked.

            “Sure. You’ve been leering at him for a long time now, and when you finally get him all alone and vulnerable you-”

            “It wasn’t like that! And take your hands off of me!” Kagami heard a rustle of clothing and a few steps. “Thank you,” Midorima said sarcastically. “As I was saying, it wasn’t like that at all. I didn’t take advantage of him. I’m not like _you_.”

            “You say that,” Aomine said. “You say that, but he’s avoiding you too.”  
            “He’s not avoiding me. I’m avoiding him.”

            “That…That’s even worse!”

            Midorima sniffed. “It’s for him. He…I overstepped my boundaries. He doesn’t care for me. In a few weeks, he’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”

            Kagami wanted to rush in and tell Midorima that he was wrong, that he did care, and he didn’t want to lose his friendship, regardless of the feelings between them.

            “Kagami is strong, but…” Aomine paused. “I don’t like you, but he did. So don’t throw that away.”

            At the sound of footsteps towards the door, Kagami power walked down the hallway, his thoughts spinning. Why was Aomine so worried about him? He had made it clear that Kagami was nothing to him. He knew Aomine often said things he didn’t mean, but it _hurt_ and Kagami wasn’t willing to forgive him any time soon.

            And then there was Midorima. Kagami had really fucked that up, hadn’t he?

            He needed to fix things. He didn’t know how, but he would do it.

* * *

            As always, life had other plans for him. He had been picking up so many shifts lately that many people had taken advantage of that, asking him to cover for them, so he barely had time to sleep or even think about what to do about Aomine and Midorima.

            He managed to take some steps, however. He had managed to catch Takao in one of the rare moments that he wasn’t attached to Midorima at the hip, and ask him for help. To his surprise, Takao hadn’t been as warm as usual.

            “I don’t know what you did, but I don’t approve,” he said. After a moment of deliberation, he added, “I’ll help you. But only because Shin-chan is so upset. You can’t mess him around anymore.”

            Kagami bristled. “I wasn’t messing him-”

            “You were,” Takao cut in coldly. “He wears his heart on his sleeve, he has no self-esteem, and you strung him along. I thought that since you and Aomine were over that maybe…” He cleared his throat. “We’re friends, Kagami, but Shin-chan is my _best_ friend.”

            “Alright,” Kagami said. “I’m sorry, but I promise, I’ll try to fix things.”

            Takao hummed, and nodded. Kagami felt that he had been forgiven, if only marginally. “Here’s what you need to do…” Takao began.

                                                

* * *

 

            The plan was for Takao to be a sort of go between at first. “Shin-chan is someone who needs his space,” Takao had said. Takao would try to convince Midorima to at least talk to Kagami again.

            The problem was Aomine. They didn’t have any mutual friends, unless he counted Kuroko or Momoi, and he was definitely _not_ asking them for help.         Yet. They were an absolute last resort.

The only other solution Kagami could think of was to talk to Aomine himself. It was unappealing, but if he was being honest with himself, he missed Aomine. Not just the sex, but Aomine himself. He missed their arguments, their one-on-ones, the rare moments when Aomine was inexplicably gentle with him. He missed the color Aomine’s cheeks turned when Kagami teased him. He missed the way Aomine said his name, be it with a growl, a moan, or a laugh.

He clenched his fists. He had to do it, and soon, before he lost his nerve. The next chance he had, he would reconcile with Aomine.

                        

* * *

 

The next chance he had to reconcile with Aomine was two nights later, when he was on break. He knew Aomine’s schedule well enough that he knew he would be getting ready to leave at this time. He figured that he would intercept Aomine at the employee exit.

Steeling his nerves, he went to the elevator and pressed the down button. When the doors slid open, he froze. Midorima was there, mirroring his own expression of surprise and embarrassment. Kagami took a deep breath and stepped into the elevator, pushing the button for the ground floor. Midorima looked at the ground.

            “Mido-”

            “Kaga-”

            They both stopped, turning to each other. Midorima bit his lip. Kagami offered him a smile. “Midorima,” he tried again. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to talk to me-”

            “I do!” Midorima said hurriedly. “Takao and…Aomine talked to me. I…I’m the one who should be apologizing. I selfishly forced myself onto you when I knew that you had feelings for somebody else.”

            “You didn’t force me, or anything like that,” Kagami said. “And don’t you dare apologize. I took advantage. I was the one who ended up hurting you. I’m so sorry, Midorima.”

            Midorima nodded, and fell silent. There were only a few floors left. “Do you…” he straightened his glasses. “Do you want to go out to lunch sometime? We can start over. I really…like being your friend.”

            Kagami breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the tension draining from his shoulders. “I’d like that,” he said, just as the elevator dinged at the third floor. Midorima stepped out, and turned around to face Kagami. He lifted a hand.

            “See you,” he said, and broke into a smile so shy and genuine that Kagami’s heart picked up speed. Wait, _what?_ The doors slid shut before he had a chance to wave back.

            As the elevator descended, Kagami tried to cool his cheeks. Images flashed through his mind: Midorima’s smile, his laugh, his eyelashes, his lucky items, his night cap. All things that Kagami found so endearing and cute and…why didn’t Kagami notice this before?

            “Fuck,” he said as the elevator reached his floor. Trying to gather his wits, he shook his head and stepped out of the elevator. Aomine. Right, he had to talk to Aomine.

            He felt a little dizzy, but he figured that it was from the elevator trip and emotional trip he had just been on. He walked through the lobby, headed towards the exit.

            And there Aomine stood, his coat off and thrown over his shoulder, getting ready to leave. He had worn his slacks that were a bit too small today, and Kagami had to force himself not to stare at his ass.

            “Aomine!” he called, and Aomine froze in surprise. Slowly, he turned around to meet Kagami’s eyes, his lips parting.

            “Kagami,” he said, then suddenly, louder, “Kagami!”

            Kagami, distracted, had walked straight into a low hanging sign that he always had to avoid because of his height. But he was still feeling dizzy, and before he could catch himself, he fell backwards, hitting his head _hard_ on the floor.

            The overhead fluorescent lights were too bright, Kagami thought as he stared at the ceiling, head swimming. He shut his eyes against them, welcoming the blackness that swept over him. As he lost consciousness, he swore that he could feel warm hands cradling his cheeks. But it was probably just his imagination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Hello! I'm sorry this took so long. Work started up again and I was generally just unhappy with the way this chapter was coming out. It's a bit short of my usual word count goal as well. You may all take turns punching me in the face, but I warn you, the line is pretty long. 
> 
> ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll try to update quicker this time!


	5. The Needle and the Damage Done

            When Kagami came to, he immediately wanted to go back to sleep. His limbs felt heavy, it felt like he had been hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer, and most of all, he felt confused. He tried to look around while moving a little as possible.

            He was lying in a hospital bed, that much was clear. An IV was hooked to his arm. He tried to remember how he had ended up in here, but his memories were too fuzzy. The last thing he remembered was checking out Aomine’s ass. He considered going back to sleep, but his curiosity beat out his drowsiness. Craning his neck, he found the button to call for the doctor and pressed it.

            A few moments later, the door burst open. “Good morning, Kagami-kuuuun,” a sweet voice called.

            “Hello Aida-san,” he croaked.

            Big brown eyes were suddenly too close as the doctor leaned over him. “You’ve known me how long? Stop with the Aida-san. That’s my dad.”

            “Your dad would kick my ass if he heard me call you by your first name.”

            “He’s gonna kick your ass anyway when he finds out you’re not gonna be visiting the gym for a while,” she said as she began checking his vitals.

            Kagami cringed. That was true. “So, what happened?” he asked.

Riko took out a light to check his eyes. “Well, you knocked your head pretty badly on the exit sign, then you fell over. You’ve got a pretty big bump, but only a minor concussion. What I’m more concerned about,” she said, pulling back, tone becoming sharper, “is the fact that you were extremely dehydrated and exhausted. Take better care of yourself, you idiot!” She lifted a hand to give him her usual smack upside the head, but, to Kagami’s relief, thought better of it. Instead, she settled for pinching his nose.

“Were you worried about me, Riko?” he said, his voice nasal from her hold.

            “Not at all,” she said, smiling. “But you had quite a few people worried. They were hovering over you all day. I had to kick them out. Your boyfriends put up quite the fuss.”

            Kagami smacked her hand away from his face. “My boyfriends?”

            “Midorima and Aomine. They both tried to intimidate me to let them stay, but I got them out eventually. Brats, the both of them,” she sighed, and Kagami hummed an agreement. “I did tell them I’d let them know when you woke up. Do you mind?”

            Kagami took a deep breath, then nodded. He might as well get it over with. Riko rubbed his shoulder soothingly as she took out her pager.

            In about two minutes, he heard loud footsteps heading towards his door.

            “You go in first, he probably doesn’t even want to-”

            “No, he knows you better, you’ll know what to-”

            “Shut up, four-eyes, just get in there-”

            “I won’t be ordered around by some- _oof!_ ”

            The voices were replaced by the sounds of a struggle. Riko and Kagami stared at each other, Riko exasperated, Kagami bemused. These interactions were almost… _civil_. Riko pushed herself from the bed and threw the door open, revealing Aomine and Midorima currently engaged in a slapping fight. They both stopped, looked at Riko, and straightened up, trying to act as if they hadn’t just been fighting like children in a school yard.

            Kagami laughed, loudly. Everyone at the door looked over at him. He bit his lip, but couldn’t help the giggles still escaping.

            Riko grabbed the two other doctors by their shirts, yanking them both inside. Ignoring their complaints, she winked at Kagami before exiting the room and shutting the door behind her. Silence filled the room, before Aomine said,

            “Kagami. You _dumbass_.”

            He grabbed a chair, dragged it over to Kagami’s bed, and plopped down, crossing his arms and looking down at Kagami like he was a disobedient child. Midorima strode over and stood next to Aomine, crossing his arms as well. “He’s right,” he said. “As an EMT, you should know to stay hydrated.”

            Aomine nodded vigorously in agreement. “And watch where you’re going. You look stupid enough when you’re not running into signs.”

            Kagami snorted. “Thanks, I guess.” He offered a small smile, and both doctors seemed to relax a little.

            “Sit down, four eyes, you’re making my feet hurt just looking at you standing there,” Aomine complained.

Midorima raised a brow, but grabbed a seat all the same. “It’s unusual to see you caring about others, Aomine,” he said, but there was no real malice behind it.

            “The hell’s that supposed to mean? You saw how worked up I was about Ka-” he

shut his mouth abruptly, avoiding Kagami’s stare.  
            Kagami was having difficulty holding back his smile. It was nice to know that people cared what happened to him, and seeing two people that were terrible at expressing emotion worry about him was even better.

            He was about to tease the both of them, but before he could open his mouth the door flew open again.

            “Kagami!” Furihata cried, rushing over to him and sitting on the bed. “Me and Kuroko were so scared when we heard you passed out, weren’t we?”

            “Yes, we were,” Kuroko responded from where he was sitting on Kagami’s other side, causing Kagami, Aomine, and Midorima to all jump.  
            “When did you get here?!” Aomine yelped.

            “I came in with Furihata-kun,” Kuroko said.

            Kagami steadied his breaths. “I’m a _patient_. Don’t add a heart attack to my list of injuries.” He hadn’t even felt the bed shift when Kuroko sat down. The guy definitely needed to eat more.

            “From what I heard, your injuries were the result of your own stupidity,” Kuroko said. In a more serious tone, he added, “You should have let us help you when we offered, Kagami-kun.” He sounded guilty, which made Kagami feel guilty, and Kagami had been feeling guilty enough these past few weeks to last him for quite a while.

            “I know, Kuroko, Furi,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, you were right. You’re good friends.”

            Kuroko nodded, squeezing Kagami’s arm reassuringly. He then turned to their onlookers. “Now, unfortunately, I know who you are,” he said, nodding at Aomine.

            “Hey, is that any way to treat your old teammate-”

            “-but I don’t think we’ve ever met before,” he finished, offering one of his small smiles to Midorima. “I’m Kuroko Tetsuya, and this is Furihata Kouki.”

            Midorima looked surprised at being addressed, but smiled back. “Midorima Shintarou.”

            After everyone was introduced, conversation seemed to flow naturally. Seeing Kuroko make fun of Aomine in his quiet way always made Kagami laugh. His mood was improved even more when it turned out that Furihata had brought a bag of burgers for him, which he happily ate while everyone watched in disgust.

Midorima stayed out of the conversation for the most part, but occasionally offered his opinion or some dry humor. At one point even Aomine laughed at something he had said. Kagami wasn’t sure what had happened, but the two had seemed to have come to some sort of understanding when he had been knocked unconscious.

            During pauses in the conversation, everyone fussed over Kagami, They propped up his pillows, adjusted his blankets, and checked his IV. It was irritating, and embarrassing, but Kagami felt so _loved_ that he couldn’t help but smile.

            Eventually, Furihata and Kuroko had to get back to work. A few minutes later, Midorima left as well, saying that he needed to prepare for his next shift. However, before he left the room, Aomine offered a small nod to him, a grateful look on his face. Midorima nodded back before adjusting his glasses and pulling the door shut behind him.

            “Since when have you two been so close?” Kagami asked.

            Aomine hummed. “He’s just not as bad as I originally thought.” After a moment, he added, “He’s still a douche, though.”

            Kagami smirked, lying back against his pillows contentedly.

            “Do you mind me being here?” Aomine asked.                    

            “No, it’s…I’m glad. That you’re here.” He kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

            Aomine sighed. “It’s just I…you really scared me when you fell back there. I’ve been terrible to you and it’s silly, but I didn’t want you to still think of me as an asshole if you, you know. Died.”

            Kagami looked at him incredulously. “Aomine. I got a concussion, I didn’t fall off a cliff.”

            “But still!” Aomine said. “I’m trying to apologize, here!” He groaned and leaned forward onto Kagami’s bed, massaging his forehead. “I’m not good at this-”       

            “No shit.”

            “-but I’m really, _really_ sorry for all the things I’ve said to you. I was immature and I was jealous and I acted like a shitheel.” He let his head drop, his forehead resting against Kagami’s arm.

            “You really did.”

“Will you forgive me?” he asked, his voice muffled.

“…”

“Kagamiiiii,” Aomine whined.

“Yeah, I will forgive you, you big baby.” He could feel Aomine smile into his skin. Aomine wrapped his hand around Kagami’s and they laid like that for a long time.

Aomine eventually spoke again. “Before you hit your head…what were you going to talk to me about?”

            “I wanted to know if we could start over.”

            Aomine lifted his head. “You mean like, banging in storage rooms?”

            “No, idiot. I meant like…friends. Real friends. Because even though you’re an asshole, I still like to be around you.” 

            “No sex?”

            “For now. Maybe forever. I don’t know.”

            He shut his eyes and waited for Aomine to get up and leave. Maybe he wasn’t worth it without sex as an incentive. Aomine’s hand left his, and Kagami opened one eye.

            Aomine looked like he wanted to touch Kagami again, but held back. Instead, he said, “That’s fine. I…I really like you, I think. You know, romantically.” He scratched the back of his neck as Kagami stared at him in surprise. “But being your friend is enough, if that’s what you want.” Reaching out a hand, he gently stroked the bump on Kagami’s head. “Can’t say the same for this second head you got here. I might have to ask it out for drinks.”

            “You ass,” Kagami said, but couldn’t stop the big grin forming on his face. “I like you too, you know. I just think that for now, we shouldn’t. I need to sort some things out for myself first.”

            The happy grin that Aomine gave him made his heart speed up, and the heart monitor he was connected to beeped loudly.

            “Don’t die on me,” Aomine said smugly. He stroked Kagami’s hair again. “You should get some more rest, Bakagami. And get well soon.”  
            Kagami nodded, leaning into Aomine’s touch. The excitement from earlier had worn him out, and for the first time in a long time, he felt that he could actually get some sleep.

            He wound up dozing off just like that, with Aomine’s hand wound in his hair.

                                                

* * *

 

 

            The next day, Riko released Kagami with strict orders to get some rest. He also received three days off, which was strange because he had used all of his sick days when he had visited his family in LA. He had some suspicions that _someone_ with connections higher up had pulled some strings for him.

            Kuroko and Furihata had insisted on accompanying him home, much to his irritation. He could take care of himself just fine, even with a concussion.

            “If you could take care of yourself, you wouldn’t have gotten a concussion in the first place, Kagami-kun,” had been Kuroko’s dismissive reply. Kagami stopped complaining.

            They set him up with easily accessible water and food they had made for him to heat up. (Kuroko’s contribution consisted entirely of boiled eggs, but it was the thought that counted.) Everyone had been treating Kagami so nicely. Even Midorima and Aomine were getting along. Maybe he should get concussions more often.

                                                           

* * *

 

 

            On Kagami’s final day off, he got an unexpected text from Midorima, asking if he could come over, to which Kagami agreed. When he arrived (carrying a blow-up alien) he seemed a little off. Kagami figured that he was just uncomfortable being in new surroundings, so he decided to ignore it.

            “How have you been feeling?” Midorima asked almost immediately.

            “A lot better. I didn’t realize how much I needed a day off.”

            “I’m glad.”

            “It was you who got me the days off, wasn’t it?”

            Midorima fidgeted with the sleeves of his shirt. “Yes. I was worried about you.”

            “Thanks, Midorima,” Kagami said, smiling. “You’re really great. I’ll have to make it up to you sometime.”

            “That’s not necessary-”

            “Oh, come on,” Kagami said, moving to the kitchen. “At least let me make you something to eat. What would you like today? Soup? Or I could whip up some-”

            “I love you.”

            Kagami froze, then looked up at Midorima, who looked just as surprised and flustered as Kagami felt.

            “Midorima, what…I…”

            Midorima took a deep breath, adjusted his glasses and continued. “I didn’t mean to say it like that but I…it’s true. I love you. Ever since I met you for the first time, I thought you were so…so beautiful, and interesting. I…I know I don’t have a chance, but I just wanted you to know. It didn’t feel right to hide it from you, when you only see me as a friend.”

            Kagami was still speechless in the face of Midorima’s determined expression.

            “You don’t have to say anything,” Midorima said. “Or even do anything. I just want us to have a clean slate. To be friends like we were before. I hope my feelings haven’t ruined that.”

            Forcing himself out of his trance, Kagami grabbed Midorima’s hand. Slowly, he

 said, “You haven’t ruined anything. I actually…I don’t know how to respond right now. But I won’t stop being your friend.”

            Midorima’s face relaxed, and he gave Kagami’s hand a squeeze before letting go.

            “For now,” he said, his cheeks tinted pink. “You said something about soup?”

            Kagami grinned. “I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, I'm so sorry for the delay, guys. I was like "as soon as I'm done work I'll focus on my fics for the rest of the summer!" no. I spent all of august making poor life choices. I'm really sorry :'(  
> Anyway, this fic is winding down. I'm thinking like, maybe two more chapters? I have it all planned, but it depends on the length.  
> Also it's four am so if this is all gibberish I apologize.  
> Comments are always appreciated! Thanks for reading.


	6. L$D

 

            “Here’s my favorite EMT,” Aomine drawled as he slid onto the lunch bench, slinging his arm around Kuroko’s narrow shoulders.

            “Stop telling lies, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko said as he jabbed Aomine in the side. “It hurts my feelings.”

            Clutching his side, Aomine wheezed, “As if you even have feelings, Tetsu! And stop enjoying this so much, Kagami!”

            Kagami just smiled, tossing chicken into his mouth like it was popcorn. The weather had been nice lately, and it was a rare day when their schedules coincided, so he, Kuroko, Midorima, Takao, and Aomine had decided to eat lunch at a park down the road from the hospital. Aomine had been late, as usual.

            “Have you ever been on time in your life, Aomine?” asked Midorima. He sounded disdainful, but Kagami could detect the teasing tone underneath. Lately he had been saying a lot more when everyone got together. Maybe he was coming out of his shell, or maybe it was because Aomine had stopped acting like a dick every time Midorima was so much as mentioned. He didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but Kagami might have even gone so far as to say that they were becoming _friends_.

            A couple of weeks ago, Riko had finally declared Kagami ready to resume strenuous physical activity, it had been a few weeks since he hit his head. That meant three weeks with no basketball, and for Kagami, that was unacceptable.

            However, he couldn’t even shoot baskets by himself, because as soon as Aomine and Midorima found out, they forcefully accompanied him to make sure he really was okay. It was annoying, and he _was_ fine, but in the end he actually had a nice time. It started out with him playing by himself with Aomine and Midorima watching him intently. Aomine was the first to get bored, and couldn’t stop himself from demanding a one on one. Midorima watched them play for a while before Aomine forced Kagami to call it a day. Kagami, irritated, started to goad Aomine on, trying to force him to play again.

            “We usually play much more than that!” he had said. “What’s wrong, afraid I’ll beat you?”

            Before Aomine could bark back an insult, a voice said, “I’ll swap in for Kagami.” Aomine and Kagami both turned to look at Midorima in surprise.

            “It’s fine, isn’t it? Kagami can rest for a little, and you can keep showing off.”  
            “I’m not showing off. And it’ll just be depressing for him to watch me wipe the floor with you.”

            Midorima simply rolled up his sleeves as he walked over to face Aomine. “Just try it,” he said. Kagami, realizing that he was not going to get to play anytime soon, handed the ball to Midorima before returning to the bench, staring at the two of them expectantly.

            Midorima spun the ball a few times before stopping and suddenly shifted into a shooting position. Kagami could only watch in amazement as he jumped and threw the ball into a high, graceful arc. No one made a sound as they watched the ball go in, all net. Midorima was more than half the court away from the hoop. Aomine tore his gaze from the hoop and looked back at Midorima. “I guess I’ll play you,” he said, poorly concealed excitement in his tone. After all, there was nothing Aomine liked more than a challenge.  

            A few minutes later, Kagami was already itching to get back on the court. Midorima’s play style was completely different from Aomine’s: structured and neat where Aomine was wild and formless. But playing by the book didn’t make him any less formidable. The shots were ridiculous, and Midorima was confident enough to start walking away before the ball even went in.

            Kagami _really_ wanted to play. Aomine played fine against Midorima through his own incredible offensive power. But Kagami could jump higher than Aomine, and he wanted to see if he could block those unbelievable shots. He got up and ran over to where Aomine was about to dunk, knocking the ball out of his hands. Aomine yelped in surprise.

            “That was a foul!” he said.

            “Whatever,” said Kagami, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Come on, I want to play Midorima!”

            “Next time,” Midorima said, walking over to them. He was trying to appear stern, but judging by his pink cheeks, he was flattered. Kagami had complained, but eventually given in when they offered to pay for his lunch. Sometime on the way Aomine demanded that Midorima exchange numbers with him so that they could play again. After lunch, they parted ways with plans to make this a regular thing.

            They became an odd trio often seen together around the hospital during slow hours. It was strange enough to see two renowned doctors known to hate each other joking together, but a loud, no name EMT added to the group made it even stranger. But Kagami didn’t mind.

            Now, he watched Midorima and Aomine squabble while Kuroko and Takao laughed. It was nice for everyone to be getting along now, this was what he had wanted all along, except… his stupid feelings never went along with what the rational part of his mind wanted.

            He knew how much he cared for Aomine before they started fighting. He still cared for him, deeply. The thing was, he was beginning to notice that he cared for Midorima as well. Deeply.

            At first he thought it was just attraction. Kagami could appreciate a good looking guy without wanting to have a relationship with him, and Midorima, for all his quirks, was undeniably handsome. It was normal to admire his long limbs and pretty eyes.

            But then their friendship became closer. Kagami hadn’t known Midorima for very long, and he had been friends with him for an even shorter period of time. But as he learned more about Midorima, he liked more about Midorima. He became familiar with the things that made him tick: what made him smile, what made him laugh, and Kagami wanted to find out even more. When he began to find even Midorima’s lucky items endearing, he knew he was in trouble.

            He tried to approach the situation rationally. He had romantic feelings for two guys at the same time, big deal. It happened all the time in movies, so it was probably normal. But on the other hand, since when were movies reliable sources of information? What if he was just a freak of nature, a pervert who wasn’t satisfied with one lover? What if he was just greedy?

            He had _told_ them that he just wanted to stay friends, but his heart apparently wasn’t content with that. Aomine and Midorima had both confessed to him, but agreed to his request. They were too gentle with him, and he was too selfish. He was starting to fall back into his cycle of confusion and guilt and self-loathing that had led to him getting a concussion in the first place. Maybe he wasn’t meant to be with people. Maybe he should just become a hermit instead.

            He must have looked a little too ponderous, because suddenly Kuroko was at his side, taking a piece of his food while the rest of their group continued their conversation.

            “You look like you’re thinking too hard, Kagami-kun,” he said quietly. “It doesn’t suit you.”

            Kagami looked at his friend’s concerned expression and sighed, feeling some of the tension ease from his shoulders. He didn’t have to repeat what had happened before. This time, he could confide in Kuroko.

            Or not. “It’s nothing,” he said. Kuroko stabbed his side with his bony elbow. “Ow! What the hell was that for?”

            “I’m not listening to you this time. Please don’t treat me as if I’m stupid.”

            Letting out another sigh, Kagami nodded. “You’re right, as usual. But can we talk about this later?” He nodded pointedly at the others.

            “Okay. But you better not be lying, Kagami-kun, or else I’ll bring Nigou to work.”

            “You wouldn’t.”

            “I would.”

            “What are you two whispering about over there?” Aomine interrupted.

            “Kagami-kun’s fear of puppies.”

            Aomine leaned forward. “Wait, you’re afraid of _dogs_?” he jeered.

            “Says the one who screamed when he saw a bumblebee the other day,” Midorima said.

  
            “Bees sting!”

            “Dogs bite!” shouted Kagami.

            The rest of their lunch passed in the usual manner. Later that day, when he finally filled Kuroko in, Kuroko had patted Kagami’s arm gently and said, “You’re all idiots. Just talk to them Kagami-kun, they’ll surprise you.”

            And although Kagami felt relieved that Kuroko hadn’t judged him, he also kind of wanted to hit him. For him, proper communication was easier said than done.                                 

* * *

 

            On his days off, Kagami’s routine was to get up, eat breakfast, get groceries for the week ahead, and watch dumb TV shows. There were occasional variations, such as doing his laundry or visiting his friends. Today he chose the extreme lazy route, throwing on his ugliest sweats and collapsing on his couch, bowl of cereal in hand. He was on his fifth episode of _Keeping Up with the Kises_ marathon when his phone started to ring.

            “Hello?” he answered, more interested in watching Kise Ryouta and one of his sisters cat fight.

            “Kagami, it’s me. Midorima.”

            Kagami checked at his screen, puzzled. It was rare for Midorima to call at all, and he was usually working at this time, too. It must be something important. He put the phone back to his ear, worried.

            “Is everything okay, Midorima?”

            “Yes, everything is fine. Sorry to disturb you on your day off, but I thought you might like to see Momoko. She’s coming for a checkup today.”

  
            Kagami’s eyes widened. “Really? She seems like she could be sent to a fancy private physician.”

            “Are you implying that I’m not fancy?”

            Kagami snorted. “No, you’re the fanciest.”

  
            “I appreciate that. And you’re right, her family could afford a private physician, but I think her visiting here has something to do with you.”

            “Then I shouldn’t keep her waiting,” Kagami said, shutting the TV off just as Kise Ryouta waved a clump of his sister’s hair triumphantly.

            “I’ll see you soon, then,” he said.

            “Thanks, Mido,” Kagami said, hanging up and rushing to put on a proper pair of pants.

* * *

 

            “Kagami-san,” Momoko said when he entered her room. “Your shirt is stupid.”     

            Kagami pretended to be offended on behalf of his cheeseburger t-shirt, but didn’t miss the kind tone of her voice or the sparkle in her eyes. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “How’ve you been doing, Momoko?”

            She frowned. “You’re treating me like a baby again. I just turned twelve. Be rude to me like you always are.”

            “Ugh, fine. Brat.”      

            The corners of Momoko’s lips turned upwards. “That’s better. And I’m doing well.” She looked down at her hands, resting in her lap. “I miss my mom a lot. I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing her. But…” She pressed her palms to her eyes, taking a shaking breath. “But I think I’ll be okay. My dad…he’s been around more. I’ve never spoken to him as much as I have lately.”

            “That’s good,” Kagami said. “I-”

            She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “It was Ryou-chan.”  
           

            “Ryou-chan?”

            She gestured to the door vaguely. “He’s talking with that weird doctor. He’s sort of my…nanny? Bodyguard. You wouldn’t think he was, because he’s always so meek, and apologizes for _everything_. But when I came home from here, my dad was going to leave again, and you should have heard Ryou. I never heard him so angry. And what’s even crazier is that my dad listened to him.”

            Kagami vaguely recalled the subordinate who had taken Momoko home from the hospital.

            “But when I tried to thank him, he said to thank you instead. He said you gave him the courage to do what he had wanted to do for years.” She reached into her coat pocket, and pulled out a small box. Ignoring his protests, she shoved it into his hands. “Take it, it’s rude not to.”

            “I thought you wanted me to be rude-”

            “Shut up!”

            Kagami laughed as he opened the box. Inside was a keychain, with a simple silver charm attached. There was a small engraving on it: _To Kagami. Love Momoko._

            He looked back up at Momoko, touched. She avoided his gaze. “You should use it. You’re key ring is all rusty and loose, you’ll lose your amulet, and you’ll make the person who gave it to you sad.”

            Obediently, he removed his keys and Midorima’s amulet from his old key ring and put it on Momoko’s. He stood up and pulled her into a tight embrace. “Thank you, Momoko.”

  
            “Ew, get off of me!” she squawked, bright red. Kagami laughed and ruffled her hair, ignoring her glare.

            There was a knock on the door. “Momoko-san?” a soft voice called. “I’m sorry, but we should get going.”

            She paused and stopped wriggling to get out of Kagami’s embrace. Instead, she leaned into it, hugging him tightly before letting go. “Thank you, Kagami-san,” she said, and scampered out the door. “Ryou-chan” offered him a smile before being dragged away by Momoko, leaving only Kagami in the room, with Midorima looking in.

            “Hi,” Kagami said.

            Midorima’s eyes softened as he looked at Kagami. “How was she?” he asked.

            Kagami nodded. “Happy,” he said. Momoko’s father had done what Kagami’s couldn’t. She would be fine. “I’m happy, too,” he added.

            Midorima said he had time to walk him out. After they got into the elevator, Kagami said, “Thanks again, Mido.”

            Shuffling his feet, Midorima said, “You called me that earlier. On the phone.”

  
            “Mido?”

            “Yes.”

            “Do you not like it? Would you prefer ‘Shin-chan’?” Kagami teased.

            Midorima made a face. “No! No. I…” he adjusted his glasses. “I wouldn’t mind if you…called me Shintarou. If you wanted to.”

  
            “Really?” Kagami was surprised. He rarely called anyone by their first name, and he’d never heard Midorima do it either. “Then I guess…you can call me Taiga, then.”

            “Taiga,” Midorima said, as if tasting the word. Kagami shivered. For some reason it was _embarrassing_ for Midorima to say his name like that.

            “Shintarou,” he said, enunciating each syllable with care. He watched as Midorima’s cheeks filled with color. “Shintarou,” he said again.

            Midorima turned to face him. “Taiga, I-”

            The elevator let out a _ping!_ as the elevator came to a stop and a nurse pushed a man in a wheelchair inside, crowding Midorima and Kagami together. For some reason, the way the back of Midorima’s hand kept brushing against his became the most important thing in the world until the nurse wheeled her patient out on the fourth floor. The doors had barely shut before Kagami and Midorima wrapped their arms around each other, smashing their mouths together in a wild kiss.

            This wasn’t quite right, Kagami knew. Kuroko had said something about communication, but that thought became more and more distant with each brush of Midorima’s tongue against his.

            They sprang apart when the elevator finally reached the ground floor. Midorima\ looked a mess, and Kagami was sure he looked no better himself.

            “Um, I…” he struggled to find words. They gaped at each other until the elevator doors began to close again. Midorima shot his hand out to hold them open.

            “Kaga- _Taiga_ ,” he said. “I have to work, but...”

            “We’re gonna talk about this later, okay?” Kagami said, stepping out of the elevator. Midorima nodded, and Kagami forced himself to walk away.

* * *

 

            That evening, Kagami was already dreading talking more about “it” with Midorima. What was he even going to say? Kagami wasn’t sure.

            What he was sure of was that…he wasn’t sure of _anything_ at this point. So he did what he always did when he felt confused: he went to the basketball court, where things made sense to him.

            It was all going well until he rounded the corner to his favorite court, where he heard a familiar guffaw.

            “It’s your loss, you scrub,” Aomine said into his phone as he dribbled a ball absentmindedly. “You know where to find me when your balls drop.” He laughed at whatever the person on the other end said before saying, “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. Loser”, and hanging up. He looked at his phone fondly before tucking it into his pocket and going to make a shot.

            “You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Kagami said just as Aomine’s eyes met his.

            “Kagami!” he called. “Come play!”  
            Kagami wasn’t mentally ready to be talking with Aomine after the Midorima fiasco, but he could never turn down a game against Aomine. He took off his sweatshirt and headed over to him. “Who were you on the phone with?” he asked. Aomine looked a bit sheepish.

            “Midorima…” he mumbled.

            “No way,” Kagami said.

            “Look, I figured you’d be asleep since it’s your day off, and Midorima is usually finished at this point, but he had a big surgery to-” Aomine sighed, rolling his shoulders back. “And…I hate to say this, but I may…sort of enjoy that asshole’s company.”

            Kagami let out a loud laugh. Aomine somehow was always able to put him at ease when he wasn’t busy riling him up. “That’s the most mature thing I’ve ever heard you say. I’m glad you’re getting along.”

            Aomine scrunched up his nose. “Yeah, well…things change. But since you’re here now,” he tossed the ball to Kagami. “Let’s play!”

* * *

 

            After a few hours of playing, Kagami agreed to let Aomine come over his house, as long as he helped pay for some takeout and beers they would pick up on the way back. When they got to Kagami’s apartment, they both sprawled on the couch, eating and watching some cheesy soap opera that they each pretended to not be interested in at all.

            “She was definitely framed!” Aomine shouted suddenly at the TV. “Mai-chan would never do that!”

            “Really? But she’s been off the rails ever since her ex left her for her aunt.”

            “Bullshit,” Aomine said, shooting Kagami a glare. Somehow, even in the blue glow of the television, Aomine still managed to look breathtaking. Neither of them had showered after their game, so they probably both smelled bad, but it was okay because it was Aomine. He really, really wanted to touch him.

            Aomine’s glare turned warm as Kagami stared at him. Before Kagami could process it, his hands had risen up to pull Aomine closer, his thumbs stroking his sharp cheekbones. Softly, Aomine brushed their lips together. Once. Then again. And again.

            As their kiss became deeper, they shifted so Aomine was straddling Kagami. He pulled back, keeping Kagami down. “Is this okay, Kagami? Is this what you want?”

            All Kagami could see was brown skin, blue eyes, and plush lips, and he wanted him. There was no doubt about that.

But beyond Aomine, he wanted someone else too. And it was probably selfish, but even with Aomine in his lap, he still wanted Midorima, too.

            “Aomine,” he said. “Aomine, I’m sorry.”

            Aomine sat back. “You…you don’t want me? I thought that-”

            “No!” cried Kagami. “No! I love you, but the problem is, I want Midorima too!”

            There was some shifting, and Aomine’s weight disappeared from his lap. This was it. Aomine was going to leave, and that would be it. He wouldn’t want to ever see Kagami again.

            “Hey, stop looking like you’re about to cry. I’m not angry or anything.”

            Kagami looked up. Aomine had collapsed on the couch next to him, resting one arm on the back of the couch behind Kagami.

            “But I’m horrible,” Kagami said in defeat.

            “Nah,” Aomine said. “You said you…you love me?”  
            Kagami nodded.

            “And you feel like you can fall in love with him?”

            Kagami nodded again. Aomine leaned over, bumping their heads together.

            “Bakagami,” he said. “I just want you to be happy. And if you need both of us to be happy, then I wouldn’t mind sharing.” He buried his face into Kagami’s neck. “Because if it’s for you, I’d do anything.”

            “This damn soap opera is rubbing off on you, cornball,” Kagami said, resting his head on top of Aomine’s. “But…are you serious?”

            “Very.”

            Kagami pressed a kiss on Aomine’s hair. “Thank you.”  
            They sat like that peacefully for a few moments, before Kagami jolted upright.

            “What?” Aomine said, clearly not pleased with the disturbance.

            Kagami turned to look at him. “How the hell are we going to get Midorima to agree with this?”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *nervous laughter*  
> uh. I'm really sorry this is so late. SUPER sorry to the person who messaged me "when is this going to update?" and my dumb ass was like "oh probably like a week." It was not a week omfg I'm so sorry. 
> 
> the keychain Momoko got Kagami was definitely from tiffany's
> 
> also somebody asked me about my titles. theyre all from songs bc im creative like that. Here ya go:  
> Overdose - EXO  
> Nicotine - Panic! at the Disco  
> Pills and Potions - Nicki Minaj  
> novacane - Frank Ocean (WHERE'S YOUR ALBUM FRANK)  
> The Needle and the Damage Done - Neil Young  
> L$D - A$AP Rocky
> 
> BUT ANYWAY! Thanks to everyone for sticking with me through this! We've got one more chapter to go! 
> 
> Hope you liked this update! please drop a kudo or a comment, or both if you're feeling especially generous <3


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